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Narendra Modi : An Idea Whose Time Has Come

So Narendra Modi does it again –
winning on development plank for the 3rd consecutive time. There
were apprehensions among certain sections that he may repeat a Chandrababu
Naidu – who bit the dust despite huge media hype on the contrary. But it was
Modi all the way (to Delhi?).

Of course, the usual suspects were interpreting
this as depletion of his mass-appeal (one seat less than last elections). Nonetheless a victory capturing 2/3 of the seats permits only one
interpretation – the people of Gujarat have reposed their faith in Modi.
Period!

Narendra Modi in a curious fashion
represents the antithesis of Nehru and Nehruvian-establishment nurtured
leadership.

Nehru’s Idea of India

Given the carefully calibrated image
of Jawaharlal Nehru, many Indians worship him as the paragon of democracy &
liberty. Unfortunately, with media & academic centres infiltrated by
Socialists/Communists, we are deprived of learning the alternative
perspectives.

Nehru is a
curious successor to Gandhiji. Gandhiji was first and foremost a Hindu leader
whose primary task was to uplift Hindus from the abyss of casteism,
superstition and bigotry. He invoked predominantly Hindu sentiments to urge
Indians to fight back British. His focus on vegatarianism, Ram-bhakti, and
faith in Geeta mark him distinctly into Hindu fold.

And while he
respectfully interacted with Christians and Muslims and was gracious enough to accept
certain good points, he remained a firm Hindu who clearly remarked those they
have nothing new to offer to Hinduism. He once said: “I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to
be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as
freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.”

Nehru with Lady Mountbatten

In sharp contrast sample this
statement by Nehru: “You realise,
Galbraith, I am the last Englishman to rule in India." Nehru’s discovery of India was via London. Nehru
counted himself as civilized as against native Indians for whom he had nothing
but contempt. Nehru wanted to move to Oxford from Cambridge because “Cambridge
is becoming too full of Indians”.

Was Nehru a towering figure in
freedom movement? Subhash Chandra Bose’s election as Congress President in 1939
against Gandhiji’s nominator Nehru tells a different story. Gandhiji took this
personally and offered to quit Congress. Just to placate Gandhiji, Bose
resigned the party and later formed the Azad Hind Fauz which ignited the
patriotic spirit of British Indian Army. With the death of Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel in 1950, Nehru emerged as the giant in Indian political arena.

Pity that Gandhi nullified his
unparalleled service to India by choosing an inept successor who barely shared
his perspective!

Nehruvian Influence

No wonder, under Nehru, an innocent
word like “secularism” that factually means separation of religion from state
has now become a euphemism for Hindu-bashing. The root of this unique interpretation
is Nehru’s own perspective inherited from British – that Hindus were savages
and we must imitate the West, a highly superior civilization, to better
ourselves.

On the contrary, leaders like
Gandhiji, Sardar Patel, Tilak, Gokhale etc. were sons-of-soil who readily
accepted Indian flaws but equally recognized Western ones too. They refused to
fall flat for Western Civilization and aptly realized that for ages India was a
markedly advanced civilization and as late as 1800 AD it accounted for a lion’s
share of world trade.

The history which was perverted for
British propaganda remained intact under the Nehruvian India – in which
narrative Islam liberated Hindus from Brahmanical stranglehold. And the
violent history of Islamic conquest was carefully concealed and made to look
benign. Akbar becomes the father of Indian nationalism. And the economic growth
in socialist environment was masterfully concealed and the blame was squarely
placed at Hindus again – “The Hindu Rate
of Growth”. The inherent feeling is that everything that fails in India is
because of its culture – predominantly Hindu. If ills ail the West, it because
they didn’t adhere to their ideals; but if anything fails in India it’s because
of its ideals (inherently sick).

The Neta-Babu-Bania nexus harshly contained
the masses. This nexus had to the broken for the empowerment of people. This
showed signs of relenting with the advent of LK Advani who stormed a non-entity
like BJP to national prominence and essentially gave Indian democracy a bipolar
structure, democratic relevance and meaning. Otherwise for a better part of
first 40 years of independent India, Congress as a unipolar power ruled India
like a personal property which reached a penultimate climax when Emergency was
called on in 1975. After Advani, Congress never achieved single-party majority again.
The economic stagnancy was halted by PV Narasimha Rao who threw open the closed
trade to globe and private ownership.

Votebank Politics Vs Development Politics

With the failure of Chandrababu
Naidu to win based wholly on development plank, people were deeply skeptical if
votebank based populist politics is here to stay and the change was a mere
flash of pan. (in passing, I think people of AP didn’t reject CBN development
plank, he performed well in 2004. But TRS encashed the Telangana sentiment well
and this loss unseated him. In 2009, he appeared poised for a comeback when
Chiranjeevi’s PRP divided the anti-incumbency vote and this loss was enough to
reinstate Congress back)

Narendra Modi reversed that opinion
for good. Of course, in this he is aided by the economically better-off Gujarat
populace who had always been good businesspeople. Usually, middle-class is the
most reviled section in India. Despite being the only ones who pay taxes on
time, they’re labeled “callous”, “indifferent” and sometimes “communal” too
(for denying rent houses to other communities etc & more so when you vote
Modi.)

Come to think of it, reasonably
educated people can easily see through the pretense of socialist redistribution
and handouts. Only the illiterate would fall for identity-politics and populist
policies. The poor educational outreach in India ensures that the majority voteblock
are still vulnerable to baseless propaganda. By indulging in License Raj, the
Indians were deliberately contained economically. As said, the policies
distributed poverty, not wealth. Vested interests exist for politicians to keep
the equations thus, so that they could continue to the massive loot in the name
of social justice.

The poor vote in exchange of cash,
benefits or charity-handouts aimed at them as a person or community rather than
electing the ones with good policies or development track. The rot had
penetrated deep into India which cannot be healed in a shorter time – the reason
NDA failed to retain power despite excellent development record.

The Idea of Modi

As discussed earlier, Gandhiji was a
son-of-soil in truest terms. While he appreciated other cultures, he was proud
of his country’s native culture and heritage and never accepted other
ideologies/culture as superior to ours. In parallel, he earned the anger of few
conservative Hindus by criticizing some outdated practices of Hindus.

The polluted atmosphere so far had
never allowed our leaders to think about harnessing our civilizational
strengths (to them, none exist). Modi showed the path ahead allowing the
entrepreneurial spirit and community support a free run without undue interference
from the bureaucracy. The growth he demonstrated is the true Hindu rate of
growth.

In sharp contrast to smug &
conceited Nehru born with silver spoon, Modi rose from humble origins to become
the CM of Gujarat and may well be on his way to become the PM too.

Modi using 3D Hologram tech for campaign

The Modi phenomenon is reflective of
the rise of aspirational neo-middle class who are no longer prepared to buy the
Congress argument of perpetual victimhood, barely care for divisive votebank politics and
want to break free of the left-liberal academic/media stronghold while forming their
own indigenous narrative. All they desire is corruption-free business
environment with modern infrastructural facilities, freedom from red-tape
bureaucracy & labour unrest.

Modi has forced the politicians to
set the bar high and focus on development instead of the worn-out identity
politics. When the whole media in collusion with certain politicians &
rogue elements connived to damage his image in a relentless campaign, he
tackled the situation by ignoring them altogether and reaching out the masses
directly through latest technologies. He brilliantly sought help from internet
(Google Hangout) and 3D technology to overcome his budgetary constraints
without sacrificing his effectiveness.

Modi is symbolic of the rise of a
new class – self-confident, forward-thinking and aspiring.

I sincerely wish that Advani
declares Modi as BJP’s Prime Ministerial Candidate, which will fortify their
preparation and help the masses make a clear choice in favour of development.
In fact, I’ve met many people who do not have much faith in BJP but are keenly
looking forward to see Modi as PM. That is the image he has built assiduously
over a decade.India is not an emerging economy. India is a re-emerging economy which is on its way to find its rightful place again after a hiatus of 200 years. Modi is the just the kind of leader India needs to rebuild itself. Jai Ho!

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